


falling hard into your orbit

by yuuji



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, Space AU, alien hunter!bokuto, and cute!, bounty hunter!kuroo, hopefully it’ll be funny
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-10-14
Updated: 2017-10-15
Packaged: 2019-01-17 06:31:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12359565
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuuji/pseuds/yuuji
Summary: even terushima, the most carefree crew member, acknowledges the weight of the robot’s words and gulps in sheer fear.nothing is going to plan.





	1. light years away from your planet

**Author's Note:**

> title inspired by across the multiverse by dent may ft. frankie cosmos! worth a listen.  
> hope you enjoy this as much as i enjoyed writing it! (a lot)

hissing.

oozing.

bokuto looks on as the rare alien he captured only fifteen minutes ago dissolves into a bubbling orange nondescript mass.

“akaashi!” he wails, hands clasped to his head in a gesture of true despair. “what happened? did it need a different atmosphere? why has it done this?”

akaashi folds his arms, eyes closed and head shaking.  
“honestly, bokuto, i have no idea. i thought my prior research added up-“

“ **O GRANDIOSE SPACE CAPTAIN BOKUTO OF THE H.O.O.T.** ”  
a familiar giant robot rolls into sight, and akaashi sighs.  
“i can’t believe he programmed ushijima to say that,” he mutters.

“oho ho! what news do you bring, wakatoshi?” bokuto, mood evidently boosted by the high praises bestowed unto him by the robot, exclaims loudly.

“ **AS I SET UPON CLEANING THE REMAINS OF THE ALIEN I RETRIEVED THIS ITEM OF INTEREST. IT APPEARS TO BE AN AOBA REGAL PENDANT, POSSESSED ONLY BY MEMBERS OF THE AOBA ROYAL FAMILY.** ”

silence permeates the room as ushijima speaks. even terushima, the most carefree crew member, acknowledges the weight of the robot’s words and gulps in sheer fear.

“we, uh, we... we’re in trouble, captain.” in an uncharacteristic display of nervousness, terushima splutters.

“ **O FABULOUS CAPTAIN OF THE UNIVERSE BOKUTO. I HAVE RECEIVED A MEMOGRAM FROM THE INTERGALACTIC FORCE. I WILL NOW PROCEED TO RELAY IT TO YOU.** ”

bokuto inhales. nothing is going to plan. everything is so skewed. he knows he’s only been doing as the force instructed him. he hopes this memogram clears everything up.

“ **CAPTAIN BOKUTO KOTARO OF THE H.O.O.T: YOUR RECENT ACTIONS MEAN THAT YOU AND YOUR CREW ARE CLASSED AS CRIMINALS. DUE TO YOUR PREVIOUS LINKS WITH THE INTERGALACTIC FORCE, IT HAS BEEN DECIDED THAT INSTEAD OF BEING EXECUTED FOR TREASON YOU ARE CONDEMNED TO ETERNAL EXILE FROM THE SENDAI SYSTEM AND ANY ALLIED SYSTEMS WITHIN 10 LIGHT YEARS. SHOULD YOU BREACH THIS SENTENCE, YOU WILL BE PROSECUTED AND EXECUTED.** ”

bokuto forgets to exhale. it is only a matter of seconds before he blacks out completely, hearing terushima’s shout of “captain!” before falling out of consciousness.

——————

“i trust that you and your ensemble are skilled enough to retrieve him.”  
a cavernous voice rasps through the intercom before the connection is ended.

iwaizumi sighs, opening a voice chat with kuroo.  
“got us a new job. reward’s huge but it’s all the way in the fukuro system. swing by so i can run you and ennoshita through the plan.”

kuroo’s voice crackles through iwaizumi’s earpiece. “huge reward?! roger that, on my way. oi chikara! hedgehog’s got us a new-“

swiftly, iwaizumi cuts off the call. he most certainly does not look like a hedgehog.

“yo, spike, wipe that scary look off your face. give us the details.” kuroo appears in the hallway, conniving grin plastered on his face. ennoshita stands behind him, looking mildly apprehensive of iwaizumi’s anger.

to ennoshita’s relief, iwaizumi forgoes giving his captain a good verbal hiding in lieu of explaining the bounty.

“like i said, it’s in the fukuro system. apparently some rogue kidnapped and killed our contact’s son, who happens to be the prince of aoba. if we bring the rogue back, dead or alive, we receive a reward of 25 million lux.”

“oho? 25 million? that means we can retire!” kuroo pipes up, eyes sparkling. “what’s this guy’s name then?”

iwaizumi clears his throat. “ahem. i’ve been informed that we are to pursue bokuto kotaro, captain of spaceship H.O.O.T. i would recommend that once we locate the craft, you board alone and take bokuto. after studying the profiles of his two crew members, none of them seem to have any particular strengths.”

“deal.”

——————

the fukuro system is 80 light years away from the centre of galactic society, the sendai system. once the bustling epicentre of space commerce, the fukuro system has become a synonym of crime. the capital of the system, nekoma, rests within planet yaku. although it used to be a wealthy city, it is now full of nothing but dives and illegal trade.

“bokuto, this is your third shot of libero. don’t you think you should stop drinking and squandering what little money we have left? ushijima’s charging port is broken. we have to save up so we can afford repairs.” akaashi prods at the figure slumped on the bar, patience wearing thin.

“to hell with that robot. to hell with everything. i’m a criminal and a failure. i should just rot here.”

knowing that he can’t do anything to lighten bokuto’s mood, he places a return port chip on the captain’s back and teleports him to their spacecraft.

“ **O INCOMPARABLE AND MIGHTY CAPTAIN BOKUTO OF THE GALAXIES. I INFORM YOU THAT WE HAVE RECEIVED AN EMERGENCY SIGNAL FROM A NEARBY SPACESHIP. MY CALCULATIONS SAY THAT THERE IS ONLY ONE PASSENGER, AND HE IS SEVERELY WOUNDED.** ”

bokuto lifts his head in intrigue, looking at ushijima with a pensive expression.  
“do you think we can save him, wakatoshi?”

“ **HE HAS A 100% CHANCE OF SURVIVAL IF WE TREAT HIM QUICKLY. ADDITIONALLY, I DO NOT DOUBT THE EXTENT OF YOUR IMPRESSIVE ABILITIES, CAPTAIN. I AM SURE ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE WITH YOU.** ”

“oho! really?! you believe in me?!” suddenly, the intoxicating effects of libero wear off and bokuto is cavorting about the ship.

“ **AFFIRMATIVE.** ” ushijima’s light panel displays a thumbs up, which serves to egg bokuto further on.

“crew! prepare for an incoming visitor! akaashi, ready the medical booth! yuuji, get us closer to the ship sending the emergency signal! wakatoshi, open the port!”

akaashi cracks a relieved smile shared with terushima, who chortles excitedly as he initiates controls on his pilot dashboard. bokuto stands in front of the entrance, awaiting the arrival of the injured astronaut.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> how was it for a 1st chapter? let me know!  
> i do have the entire fic planned out, i just don’t know how many chapters it’ll take. hopefully i can update regularly! bear with me :)


	2. you crashed into me like an asteroid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> bokuto perks up even more than usual.  
> “oho! that’s like- GWAH! it’s like- OHO!”
> 
> kuroo pretends he understands.

kuroo blinks his eyes open to white sterile light. his memory is foggy for a few instants before he remembers the crash. he’d been so close to finding that damn bokuto’s ship when he crashed his pod headfirst into a small asteroid. unbelievable. and now, he’s certainly not in his pod. moments pass while kuroo tries to move his tired limbs to no avail. oh god, he thinks. i’ve been captured by kitagawans and they’re gonna harvest my organs, he thinks. he panics.

“oho! you’re awake! thought you’d never wake up! actually, i knew you’d wake up... it’s just a figure of speech... it’d be sad if you never woke up... oh no... i’ve already messed up-”

kuroo interrupts the silver haired man’s tirade in favour of croaking for water. in some obscure recess of his mind, kuroo muses that the guy’s roots are worse than kenma’s. clearly he doesn’t dye his hair often enough.

“water?” the other man says, suddenly sobered out of his ramblings. “of course! no problem! wakatoshi, bring a glass of water, please!”

“ **OF COURSE, INCREDIBLE INTERSTELLAR CAPTAIN BOKUTO. YOUR WISH IS MY COMMAND.** ” a tinny voice replies.

wait.  
bokuto?  
as in, bounty bokuto?  
oho, kuroo thinks. he thinks he might have just struck gold, and not just the gold of the other man- bokuto’s?- eyes.

he’s propped up into a sitting position by bokuto as he helps him drink the water. already, his throat feels days, weeks, months, YEARS better from the smallest sip.

“thanks, man.” he says, gruffly.

“no problem! we patched you up good! you came in a wreck, but thanks to my undoubtedly good skills, you’re as good as new!”

kuroo nods slowly, still in disbelief. this is The Bokuto, worth 25 million lux. talking to him.

“oh, i’m bokuto by the way. captain bokuto kotaro of the spaceship H.O.O.T! i’m sure you’ve heard of me and my cool alien hunting crew! we are the coolest, bro.”  
suppressing the urge to say ‘i know’, kuroo offers his name, but not the name of his ship or his profession.

“are you travelling alone, kuroo? you could stay with us for a while if you want to. even though you’re fine, you do need rest!” bokuto chirps and kuroo thinks that the excitement radiating from this man is tangible. he could cut it with a knife.

kuroo knows he shouldn’t stay.

he knows he should just take bokuto and hightail it out of there.

there are two fundamental issues, however:  
firstly, he has no ship to escape on, and secondly, CLAW and his crew are 10 light years away.

“alright. i’ll stay for a while.”

bokuto perks up even more than usual.  
“oho! that’s like- GWAH! it’s like- OHO!”

kuroo pretends he understands.

——————

“H.O.O.T is a little small if i must be perfectly honest, kuroo; you’ll probably have to share a room with one of us. i mean, ushijima ‘sleeps’ in the supplies closet.” akaashi is currently giving kuroo a guided tour of the ship, at bokuto’s behest. kuroo doesn’t think H.O.O.T can be considered a small ship, it’s a behemoth compared to CLAW.  
actually, kuroo realises, CLAW is just a small ship made smaller by the fact that five people live on board.  
“anyways,” he says.  
“what?” akaashi turns.  
“nothing,” he replies, trailing off.

bokuto appears (seemingly) out of nowhere, calling kuroo’s name excitedly.

“you! are rooming! with me!” he chants, circling around kuroo and akaashi like a madman. akaashi sighs.

and so, kuroo ends up sleeping top-tail with bokuto, his feet pushing at kuroo’s face mid-sleep.

“bro, your feet stink. i’m going to sleep on the floor-“

“oho? you can’t take it? do you even lift?” bokuto teases, and kuroo shouldn’t be feeling as competitive as he is over stinky feet right now.

“it’s on bro. it’s on.” he mutters, laying back down and all but hugging bokuto’s legs. “i can keep this up all night, bro.”  
kuroo hears bokuto’s loud, rumbling laugh for the first time. he feels like he wants to hear it on a loop.  
he starts to forget why he came here in the first place.

——————

ennoshita paces, worried frown having become a fixture on his face.  
“iwaizumi, do you think he’s okay? i can’t help but think i should have gone with him.”

iwaizumi looks up from the book he’s reading, eyeing ennoshita with mild concern.

“don’t worry about it, chikara,” he reassures. “anyways, who would cook all the food if you went? you know aone can’t cook for shit.”

in the distance a loud grumble that might roughly be translated as “i hope you choke” is heard.

“seriously though, if kuroo was in trouble, we’d know about it. i don’t know why he’s taking so long, but i know he’s fine. trust him.”

ennoshita sighs. iwaizumi’s right. he’s sure that kuroo has bokuto and is on his way back.

——————

“he just... he came out of the shower like this! i don’t understand how he got in!” terushima cries as the entire crew of H.O.O.T gathers around a tall, half naked man.  
“he wouldn’t even let me give him a t-shirt!”

akaashi steps forward, extending his hand to the unknown man.

“i’m akaashi keiji, crew member of H.O.O.T. state your name and purpose.”

the man contemplates akaashi’s hand, as if pondering what to do with it. finally, he shakes it.  
“is this what you humans do? i’m oikawa tooru, prince of aoba.”

“fuck. off.” terushima exclaims in disbelief.

“prince of aoba? isn’t that-” _the son of our contact,_ kuroo nearly blurts out, but catches himself.

“ **WONDROUS CAPTAIN BOKUTO OF ALL PLANETS, I BELIEVE THIS IS THE PRINCE THAT YOU CAPTURED A FEW WEEKS AGO.** ”

bokuto is silent, a first. he walks up to oikawa, and prods him on the cheek.  
“why do you look like this.” he states, lacking the mental energy to pose a question.

“oh, yes, i forgot to thank you for freeing me from the horrid clutches of royal life. this is my human form, i’ve been perfecting it for years, waiting for an opportunity to escape!” oikawa flounces about the room dramatically with an air of self importance.

bokuto turns away from him, shuffling towards his own quarters. akaashi observes; he knows exactly why bokuto is acting like this. terushima is too busy freaking out about oikawa’s appearance to notice, and ushijima...  
well. he’s a robot.

kuroo realises that it’s up to him to console bokuto, and follows him to his room.

——————

it’s been two weeks since kuroo set off, and still, there’s been no word of him.

kenma sits in his pilot seat, playing the latest installment of gulgar II, but his mind is elsewhere. kuroo’s absence has started to take its toll on the crew; aone’s been spending so much time in the kitchen that his cooking has improved from inedible to unpleasant. with no bounties to search for, iwaizumi’s behaviour has become increasingly worrying. kenma is pretty sure he heard the sounds of ancient guzheng music emanating from his room at 3am the other day.  
as for ennoshita, he can’t and won’t stop worrying about kuroo (not that he blames him, it must be stressful for a newbie to lose his captain on his second mission).

kenma sighs and shuts off his console. the ship is suffocatingly quiet. what’s the point in playing if he’s too stressed out to hit combos?

——————

“what’s up, man. why so sad?” kuroo approaches bokuto’s hunched up figure on the lounger and sits beside him.

no response.

“c’mon, bo, speak to me.” he’s surprised at the ease with which he speaks to bokuto, and how friendly they seem to have become in the past two weeks or so. he shouldn’t be surprised, however. bokuto is very easy to get along with.

still not response.

“did i ever tell you that you have the coolest ship and crew?”

bokuto shuffles.

“and how you’re the coolest space captain i’ve ever met?”

bokuto sits up.

“and how you’re an even cooler bro?”

bokuto turns to face kuroo, eyes glassy from previously shed tears.  
“you really think so?” he asks, beaming a hopeful, watery smile.

“of course, i wouldn’t lie to you... brokuto.”

there’s silence as kuroo’s sincere words hang in the air.  
a beat, and then:

“BROKUTO! HAHAHAHAHA! GENIUS!” bokuto chokes out in wheezes and gasps and cackles and everything in between.

kuroo stares, dumbfounded.

“oh bro, how do you even come up with these things?! you’re amazing, you’re... puntastic! HAHAHAHA!” bokuto clutches at his stomach in what can be considered as possibly the most maniacal show of laughter in the universe.

it only takes kuroo one look at bokuto’s pure expression of joy until he’s laughing along too, albeit softly and fondly.

all too quickly, he’s reminded of the matter at hand. he should be calling CLAW for backup, and he should have just taken bokuto already. an unsettling feeling arises in his chest.

“anyways, bo. you have to tell me now; what upset you so much earlier?” kuroo immediately regrets speaking as bokuto’s smile dissipates into a hard line.

“that... that oikawa guy. he basically got me exiled from sendai, just so he could escape. i can’t even go back there to see my family, to get my things from home, because i’ll be killed if i so much as set foot within 10 light years of sendai. can you believe how selfish that is?”

oh.  
oh.  
he’s not sad, he’s angry. kuroo sees a storm raging in bokuto’s eyes, a storm that worsens the more he speaks.

——————

ennoshita stands abruptly, causing everyone to look up from their plates. aone actually managed to cook something good this week, and everyone has been left pleasantly surprised. but it's also a stark reminder of the fact that kuroo has been missing for weeks. 

“it’s been a month now. we’re going to get kuroo back.”

iwaizumi opens his mouth to disagree, but ennoshita is right. kuroo has been gone for too long.

“alright.” kenma speaks, breaking the silence. “iwaizumi, send me the co-ordinates on his beacon. we’re setting off now.”

ennoshita, kenma and iwaizumi leave to their respective tasks.

aone is left alone, chomping on spaghetti. he glares at the door they left through, as if to say: “at least finish your meal!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hope you enjoyed this chapter! i’m aiming to wrap it up in the next 2 chapters! let me know if i made any glaring mistakes, and let me know what you think of this fic! all feedback is appreciated :)


End file.
